JCC Association and Foundation for Jewish Camp are pleased to announce the fourth cohort of Lekhu Lakhem, a Jewish educational leadership fellowship designed for twenty Jewish residential camp directors. Lekhu Lakhem is the plural form of Lekh Lekha, God’s command to Abraham to “get up and go” (Genesis 12:1). It identifies the personal Jewish journey as a primary goal of the program.

Lekhu Lakhem’s Goals

To engage the fellows in the exploration of principles of Jewish education and vision, especially as they relate to their roles as directors of Jewish camps.

To create a community of directors who share a Jewish educational vision about the import and potential impact of Jewish camps on the lives of campers, staffs and families.

To infuse participants with the passion to provide the Jewish educational and visionary leadership to bring about fundamental change within their own camps.

To implant within each director the desire for continued Jewish learning and educational reflection beyond this fellowship.

Lekhu Lakhem’s Structure

Five four-day group seminars in North America and one ten-day group seminar in Israel.

Fall 2016

Winter 2017

Fall 2017

January 2018 (in Israel)

March 2018

Fall 2018

Individual/ small group learning between seminars with master teachers/ mentors twice a month via Skype/ Zoom.Site visits during the summer by the mentors, helping to apply the content of the program to the camp program.A demonstration project, chosen by the director and guided by the mentor, serves as a “capstone” experience for the program.

Eligibility

Lekhu Lakhem is open to full-time, year-round camp directors at independent or JCC Association-affiliated Jewish resident nonprofit camps. One need not have any Jewish educational background to be a candidate for the fellowship.

Testimonials from former Lekhu Lakhem participants:

“ I continue to learn from many of the moments and people introduced to me as part of Lekhu Lakhem, and the institutions I have led have been positively impacted by my participation. "

"Lekhu Lakhem deepened my own sense of Jewish spirituality and helped clarify my commitment to being a Jewish communal leader."

“Lekhu Lakhem made a huge impact on my life, personally and professionally. Professionally, it allowed me not only see myself as a Camp Director, but as a Jewish educator as well. The impact on my camp over the last few years is profound. For many of us in the program, it was the beginning of an inspirational journey that never really ended. It gave us the tools to look introspectively at our own Judaism. For me, one of the greatest strengths of the program overall was the freedom to say that I didn’t know something relating to Judaism and to have some great educators to help guide me to answers. Possibly the best element of this program was the deep connections I created to a network of colleagues and educators. We’ve all remained quite close and continue to lean on each other and learn from each other.”